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Atlantis, Arise?
Americon says, "Mr. President, Mr. President! I'm getting a call from... uh... can someone encrypt this channel thingie real quick?" Soundwave should probably do that. Soundwave has encrypted this channel. Soundwave says, "Affirmative. Channel encrypted." Galvatron says, "Hhh. Americon, if this is about another /tariff proposal/ or /immigration reform/..." Americon says, "You're the best, Soundwave!" Soundwave says, "Affirmative. Soundwave superior." Galvatron grumbles. <:D Catechism says, "All hail Galvatron!" Soundwave says, "All hail Galvatron." Soundwave says, "Encryption duration limited..." Americon says, "No, no, sir, this isn't quite as important as that. We got a call from the Quintessons. Some guy called "Traumortis." He says he has rediscovered a Quintesson battleship on Earth, but instead of reclaiming it himself, he's going to give you the coordinates as a gesture of good will!" You know, the Fleet isn't about to get into trouble. "Hail, Galvatron!" Americon says, "Also, you're pretty cool, too, Galvatron, even if I can't live in your chest!" Galvatron says, "A Quintesson battleship, eh." Galvatron says, "Did he say anything /else/." Americon says, "He says that long lost Quintesson artefacts of incalculable value may be on board!" You know, the Fleet says, "That doesn't sound like it could possibly be a trap of any kind." Galvatron says, "I see. Transmit the coordinates. It's almost certainly some sort of attempt to assassinate or humiliate me -- but if the Quintessons think they can be rid of me that easily, they're even more stupid than I imagined." Madrid, Spain Madrid, capital of Spain, is an inelegant but lively city of numerous pubs, sidewalk cafs, boutiques, and discotheques open all hours of the night, a city of passion, art, and drama, from the ethereal paintings of El Greco to the fiery vigor of the flamenco to the deadly dance between graceful matador and snorting bull to the stately Neoclassical National Palace, which houses one of the world's greatest collections of armor and swords. Verdant tree-lined streets are lined with multi-storied luxury hotels, elegant residences, extensive libraries of ancient manuscripts and rare books, official embassies, and new office buildings encrusted with elephant-head caryatids, cupolas, and winged statues. Industry is light; most Madrileos are employed by the government, banking, or tourism. Obvious exits: Fly leads to Skies above Western Europe. Northeast leads to Paris, France. West leads to Lisbon, Portugal. Americon says, "Huh... these coordinates put it off of... uh... the coast of Spain! Well, that's where it is, I guess. Ooh, we also got these spiffy codes we can use to transmit to the ship and make it surface. I imagine that will make it much easier!" Fleet has arrived. Catechism has arrived. F-35B Lightning II transforms into robot form. Catechism's feet unfold, her arms unfold out of her body, her nosecone rotates through her body and ends up on her body, and her wings rotate into position at her hips. <:D Catechism says, "Aye aye, sir. I'll bring my explosives." Americon says, "Hm... I wonder why they went to me... oh! That's right, the Head Mail Technical Support Line. Yeah, half the galaxy knows that one. You have no idea how many death threats I get!" Gnaw has arrived. Americon says, "Yessir!" Shockwave has arrived. Shockwave is here, look busy. Americon undergoes a patriotic transformation into his All-American robot mode! Grapple trips and falls ove-- no wait he transforms into a crane You have no meetme attribute, perhaps the invitation ran out. I don't see that here. You offer to meet Shade. Shade has arrived. Americon is standing by the shores of Spain, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. A local fisherman walks by him with the catch of the day, looks him up and down, then continues on his way. "Welp! Time to transmit this signal to make the ship rise, whaddaya say, guys?" Americon glances at his fellow Decepticons. "Proceed," confirms Shockwave, standing well behind and to one side of Americon. Just in case it's a trap. Grapple is near the Decepticons' position, but he declines to notice them. This is because he's using his crane mode to pull up a generous pile of donated scrap metal from the people of Spain. "," Grapple says, not realizing his Spanish-language download stalled out at 70%. "" The bystanders murmur amongst themselves, confused. Fleet is actually overhead, so /technically/ all his communicating will be over low powered radio, but he's going to use normal speech quotes because that's more convienent. "I'll keep watch over the area," he volunteers, a job that convienently keeps him well overhead. F-35B Lightning II flies into the area, just a little late. She was coming from Cybertron and had to stop and pick up some extra bomb-making supplies, but that done, she's good to go. She flits over to the other Decepticons and hovers near the group of them. If a jet could look inquisitive, she does. Gnaw is at hand, having been fed a nice juicy stack of energon cubes prior to being sent. And the tantalizing prospect of gnawing on an Autobot just sweetens the deal. Gnaw's not smart enough to understand the complexities of missions, but he is smart enough to follow simple orders. So he awaits instructions from someone in charge. Mechanical Spider spirals downwards and lands just behind Shockwave, bouncing slightly on 8 legs as she hits the ground. "This is about to be either extremely profitable or extremely not," she comments to nobody in particular. "I would be satisfied," Shockwave replies coolly to the Insecticon (Arachnocon?), "with merely 'slightly profitable.'" Americon pulls out a transmitter, and smiling happily, presses the big red button on it. *DOOT* Americon looks around for a moment, then frowns. He gives a disappointed shrug. "Nothing happened! Well, I guess it's not very profitable at all!" Throwing down the transmitter, Americon walks away, grumbling... when bubbles appear somewhere off on the surface of the ocean. "There seems to be something going on down there," Fleet replies, providing exposition to the home viewer, since no one here really needs that pointed out to them. Doesn't the ocean usually bubble? Oceanology is not this Seeker's strong point. The F-35 transforms and drops out of the air, landing neatly on her feet. She crosses her arms and awaits whatever it is they are to see here. It's pesky how much of Earth is covered in water - all the cool crashed objects are underwater. Including Trypticon, a lot of the time. "Sharkticon," commands Shockwave, more loudly as the bubbles appear, "Investigate the disturbance." Grapple starts to pull up on the load, lifting it into the air. "Ah, it'll be a long drive back to Metroplex," he says, "but the cost of the fuel is far outweighed by the fine public garden I'll be able to build with this scrap metal! I do wish they'd sent someone with a trailer hitch, though," the Autobot frets aloud, pulling off and driving along the road -- toward the Decepticon position -- leaving some confused townspeople in his wake. F-35, Marine Corps variant, transforms into robot form. Catechism's feet unfold, her arms unfold out of her body, her nosecone rotates through her body and ends up on her shoulders to expose her face, and her wings rotate into position. The Sharkticon gazes at Shockwave momentarily before the orders filter through the processor and are at least rudimentarily understood. He transforms into his Sharkball (remeniscent of 80's MadBalls) mode and dives into the water. Something IS going on, yes! The bubbles increase dramatically, forming a frothy white patch in the water. Americon watches this, musing, "Oooh!" as he unwittingly stands in the road Grapple is driving on. Gnaw transforms into his Sharkticon mode. Mechanical Spider skitters(spiders of any size don't exactly walk) closer to the water's edge, but she's not equipped for aquatics. In the meantime she scans the radio waves carefully, trying to detect any responses to the original signal. Catechism does not wander over to peer down into the water. If there's a monster, it can haul its sorry can up onto the shore to severely maim her. She's not giving any monsters any free rides today. Catechism hasn't noticed Grapple driving along. Fleet is still far overhead. He's probably noticed the approaching vehicle, but has yet to identify it as an Autobot. He's too high in the air to hear it talking to itself. Crane Truck) ansi(hr,<)ansi(hy,Grapple)ansi(hr,>) strikes you with ram for 19 points of damage. "Americon, you might want to get ou-" Fleet begins, then stops as Americon is hit. "Never mind." As the water to the side of the road starts acting crazy, Grapple lets his attention turn its way. "Ah, the changing tide," he narrates. "What a beautiful sight, and wh--" WHUNK Grapple's grill gets smashed in by the impact with Americon, and the load of scrap metal swings so violently his cable snaps, causing it to create a convenient roadblock preventing other cars from getting in. "Oh no! I've hit a human!" he cries, in panic. "I'll -- I'll be thrown out of the Autobots! Sent to prison! Traitor's prison! Oh dear! Oh my!" Mechanical Spider jerks suddenly as a faint signal brushes across her electronic senses. "Shockwave... there's something down there. Diverting power to electromagnetic sensors..." She trails off for a few moments then resumes with more confidence, "I'm definitely picking up Quintesson transmissions in the area." Shockwave immediately emits a wave of RF static which drowns out all communications for miles around upon the spider's news about the Quintesson transmissions. "Let us hope that nothing heard that signal." Americon looks up as Fleet tries to warn him, and shrugs just before he is hit by a truck. "Ahhhhh, in Americaaaaa....." he cries, flying through the air. He hits the ground with a bounce, knocks over the Spanish fisherman from earlier, and disappears into a patch of weeds. The fisherman groans, rolling around as if in pain. Fleet is apparently going to have to land his aft near the others if he wants to talk to them now. Oh well! Under the surface of the waves, the Sharkticon sees an enormous object. It is much larger than anything the Quintessons ever put in Space. The curious creature circles about the object, peering at it with googly yellow optics. Meanwhile, many Spanish people wonder why their car radios have suddenly stopped working. "Grapple to Metroplex, Grapple to Metroplex," the Autobot crane cries into his radio. "Oh, no, my radio's broken -- from almost assuredly killing that poor, poor human! I can't fix it as a crane! Why would this happen to me -- why does everything happen to me?!" Grapple rises to his robot mode, popping his radio calibrator off of his wrist and examining it as he stands around haplessly. Grapple rises from a crane into kind of a fat robot with a Livejournal Shade's legs nearly buckle. She had cranked her systems up to maximum gain and they swiftly overload when Shockwave blasts the airwaves with white noise. Dialing back the gain drastically she initiates internal diagnostics to verify there was no permanent damage. "A word of warning would be nice... Straxus." The very top of the ship emerges from the water. It seems to lack the screw shape of most Quintesson vessels, based on what you can see thus far, and it's painted over with harsh orange lines all over the hull. "Now that you have witnessed the correct protocol when enemy forces attempt a transmission, you will be aware of what to expect in future operations," replies Shockwave unsympathetically. A soft whistling hum can be heard as his translucent chest starts to glow. He's spooling up his reactor in case something bad comes out of the Quintesson ship. "Americon, go help the sharkticon with-" he realizes Americon has gone somewhere. "Americon, come here immediately," calls Shockwave loudly since he can't use his radio. Americon coughs out, "Comin'... right over, sir..." from the patch of weeds. He sticks a hand out and waves. "Just... uh... give me a moment to twist back around in the right direction..." Fleet would report on what happened to Americon but, well, radio. From his position high in the sky, he continues to study the emerging vessel, since that seems to be the most practical thing he can accomplish at the moment, anyway, radio or no. Well, Fleet /could/ go and investigate it up close and personal, but he's not an idiot. There's a horrible snapping sound. "ARRGH MY NECK!" Americon yells. Fleet does kind of wonder if anyone else has noticed the Autobot in the road, though. Something in the Sharkball's peanut processor recognizes a symbol marked on the ship. After gazing at it some more like his processor is a 486 trying to run Windows Vista, he returns to the surface. Catechism notices that there happens to be a Grapple in the middle of the road, in robot mode, panicking loudly. She raises an arm gun and points it at him, declaring, "Halt, Autobot! Surrender or..." she looks over at Shockwave, "...or we'll probably beat you senseless and take that load of scrap metal." "Oh, dear, they'll think I went rogue, that I'd deactivated my radio and gone on some kind of -- some kind of ramming spree, and they'll deploy Defensor to take me in and I can't deal with prison, I'm too--" Grapple's tangent is halted when Catechism points a gun at him. He turns around, and drops his radio in fright, but not quite putting his hands up. "I say! Can't we -- We must be able to discuss this like reasonable robots, Miss, ah, Miss Decepticon," he says, sounding flustered and unprepared. ZNN reporter says, "This just in, satellite images reveal a massive metallic object emerging off the coast of Spain. EDC officials have yet to comment on the disturbance. However, we have a reporter there live at the scene. Phil, what's going on there?" The broadcast transitions to... static. White, noisy, static. The reporter returns, looking alarmed. "Uh. Looks like we're having trouble with our equipment. More updates up ahead, after this..." Mechanical Spider transforms back into robot mode swiftly at the word "Autobot". One hand immediately reaches for her katanas, but doesn't draw them... yet. She's not exactly front-line combat material. "Frell... not what we need right now." Shade's legs pull in and her form twists around as she reverts to a 20 foot robot form. Shockwave glances around. "Yes, very good Catechism." But he's mostly interested in the spaceship. "Open it," he shouts (well, intones very loudly) to the swimming Quintesson. Shockwave is evidently not at all intimidated by Grapple. Or even really distracted. I mean, it's Grapple. At least it's not Hoist. Or Huffer. Hey, Huffer's a badass. Or Swerve. The ship has risen halfway out of the water, bobbing slightly. There is indeed a hatch to the inside, but it's been welded shut. Perhaps you'll just have to smash your way in? Focus arrives from Paris, France to the northeast. Focus has arrived. Catechism continues ot point the arm gun at Grapple, and she glares meaningfully. The Seeker demands, "On your knees, Autobot scum, hands in the air, or I will be forced to remove your legs at the knees." She pauses, and adds, after a moment of thought. "And optics, too, probably. You shouldn't be seeing this. Understood?" The Sharkball transforms as he bobs in the water. "Open bad," he tells Shockwave. He'll do as told if he's asked again, but for now he stays put. Will Shockwave be able to decipher what the Sharkticon is telling him? Gnaw transforms into his robot mode. Americon wanders towards Shockwave, his head rolling around his shoulders like it's broken. Eventually he just holds it in place with his hands. "Sir, Americon reporting! I would've come sooner, but some jerk in a truck hit me, sir! What are your orders, sir?" Grimlock has arrived. Shockwave pulls out a medical scanner and runs a check on Americon. Clutch has arrived. Shade turns to look at the ship and cocks her head to one side as she notices the door weld. "Somehow, that doesn't strike me as a good sign. The... creature may have a point," she nods toward Gnaw. Shockwave crouches to examine Americon briefly and spot-weld his head back on. It's not perfect but Shockwave is short on time. "Because of the radio blackout you are needed to retrieve Fleet from her holding pattern. Then help the Sharkticon to open the ship. It may not be intelligent enough to do so on its own." Shockwave jury-rigs you for 12 endurance. The ship, which might've been mentioned earlier, is not a standard Quintesson design. It has more of a oblong shape than the bizarre screw design that the Quintessons seem to prefer. It is also marked with numerous harsh red sigils that would imply certain things... to Quintessons. The paint job, with orange lines running up and down the hull, are of note, as well. Oh, and it's REALLY BIG. Grapple lowers onto one knee, hands -- well, hand and gun -- sort of in the air, but not really. He knows he's outmatched and has yet to formulate a plan beyond 'terror.' "See what, I-- MY WORD!" Grapple turns his head -- turns his torso, actually, he has poor neck mobility -- to see the Quintesson ship rising. "That ship -- that's a Quintesson design! What are you fiends up to this time?!" Fleet , who has apparently just received a sudden pronoun-change operation, is currently circling high overhead, watching the whole affair. He (She?) would report in what he's seeing, but the radio black-out makes that impossible. On the up side, it prevents people from ordering him (her?) to do stupid things like open the hatch on the ship. Well. For now. (it) That works. (them) Grimlock is here! The dinobot soars in from the distance, leading a contingent of brave and mighty Autobots (or, well, maybe just Focus and Clutch) into the radio-silent area! "Me Grimlock see spaceship thingie!" he points over at the rising Quintesson ship. "Me Grimlock need tell Autobots!" he says. But his radio is jammed. Curses! Fortunately, Grimlock can yell very, very, loud. The jamming signal in the area disperses. Grimlock shouts, "HEY! ME GRIMLOCK SEE SPACESHIP THING!!" Americon's head is stuck so that he can only look straightforward. "Thank you, sir!" Americon says cheerily, not looking up at Shockwave because he can't. Transforming into eagle mode, he rockets after Fleet. He flies directly into her path and flaps his wings furiously, screaming, "HEY! LISTEN! HEY! LISTEN!" Americon's robot legs pop out metallic feather-like objects as they and his lower torso split apart, also revealing an eagle head. The arms and robot head join the main body, and his guns convert into tail feathers and rocket launchers. Americon is now a bald eagle! Focus skims along the surface of the water leaving a tall wake behind the hovercraft. As it nears the area, it transforms into Focus who skims over the water as if staking over it, though not as fast as his alt mode. At least he can fully 'see' around him. He feels the static and hears it in his sensor suite and just shakes his head. He isn't too worried about it, at least for now. The cybertronian hovercar splits the front hood and twists around. The back end flips up and folds over its hood while arms extend from the underside. The car does a quick jet of power lifting itself up to land on its new feet as a head slides out from the body. Where a hovercar once was, Focus stands. Fleet twists in his flight, narrowly avoiding Americon. Avoiding birds that have suddenly moved into his flight path was one of the first things he learned on this planet! He passes, turns back, slows down... and transforms in order to hover. "What is it, Americon?" Catechism tries to roughly cuff Grapple on the head for his insolence in looking at the Quintesson ship, and she yells in a rather antagonistic voice, "It is swamp gas reflecting off the horizon!" That's the standard military excuse for all things that aren't supposed to be there, right? Catechism succeeds in grasping Grapple, throwing it off-balance. Grapple's giant, boxy, pyramid-like helmet is struck. "Aah! That hurt, you scoundrel!" he cries. Shockwave is standing on the beach with a small cadre of Decepticons. One conehead seeker (menacing Grapple), one regular seeker (circling overhead), one tape (shouting at the flying seeker), an insecticon (sneaky and hard to spot) and a sharkticon (bobbing around by the Quintesson ship). Gnaw awaits Shockwave's acknowledgement of his warning. Something in his lag-prone logic chips tells him that something in that ship isn't very Sharkticon-friendly. And if it's not Sharkticon-friendly, it probably isn't very Transformer-friendly in general. Robotic Bald Eagle flaps his wings for emphasis as he yells, "CAW! Shockwave wants you to help me help the shark guy, madame!" Woops, looks like another pronoun-change operation. "Follow ME," he says, rushing down to the ship. Fleet's a lot faster than him, though, and doesn't really have to follow directly behind him. "HEY! SEPTI CONS! And them picking on him fat guy Grapple!" So says Grimlock as he soars into view- first cruising by Fleet- who he shakes his double-blaster at menacingly for a few moments- before he looks down to Shockwave. Bigger target! "HEY! YOU SHOCKWAVE! ME GRIMLOCK SAY YOU NEED TAKE YOU SPACESHIP HOME! Take to STUPID-LAND! HAW HAW HAW!" Clutch surfs along over the surface of the water in his car mode, not employing quasi-mystical (or maybe just high-tech) hovering abilities like Focus, but using something that's just as cool in it's own way...Autobot water-skis! He also transforms, but waits until he's closer to shore, so that he can run the last few steps onto dry land. He getsthere just when Grimlock makes his proclomation, and Clutch can't help but briefly turn an incredulous look on the Dinobot. But then he quickly shakes his head and grins, hefting a sturdy looking rifle and sizing up the Decepticons. Shade's head snaps up at the sound of Grimlock's booming voice. "It never goes smooth. Why does it never go smooth?" Hopefully before the Autobots notice her standing there, she brings her holographic systems on line and activates the image of somebody calculated to not be as inviting of a target as a virtually unarmed Insecticon. Motormaster has arrived. Shade has left. ... Madame? Fleet doesn't bother questioning Americon, because (s)he figures something like three fourths of what Americon says is gibberish anyway, but (s)he does shrug and starts to follow Americon down... although (s)he stops suddenly, optics wide, as Grimlock passes. Grimlock seems focused on a bigger target, however. Fleet briefly considers warning Shockwave but, well, radio. Instead, he flies towards where the Sharkticon bobs in the water and hovers over it. "I'm told I'm supposed to assist you?" he asks Gnaw. "Yes," agrees Shockwave, "That was in fact just what we were doing. Taking our spaceship home to stupid-land." He gestures for Americon and Fleet to hurry up with getting the spaceship open so they can see if there's anything good in there. Naturally he ignores the Sharkticon's warning. "As it happens I am just on my way to do that now," adds Shockwave. Robotic Bald Eagle hovers by the hatch, busying himself removing Quintesson warning stickers and spitting them into the ocean. Catechism facepalms with her free hand, and she grouses, "It's supposed to hurt! Did you miss the memo about there being a war and about us trying to, oh, kill you?" When Grimlock make his dramatic arrival, she tries to grab Grapple and drag him off to throw him into the water (to see if he weighs as much as a duck). If he's in the water, then Catechism doesn't have to worry as much about what Grapple's doing, because it'll probably be equivalent to Magikarp using Splash. Even Focus knows, that Quintesson ship shouldn't fall into decepticon hands. As he skims on two feet to shore, he pulls out a pair of kunai knives holding them loosely in one hand. He opens all his senses getting a full view of the area and steps next to Clutch. "They do...our first priority is to Grapple's safety." he says taking off running towards Catechism and Grapple. At the very least, he can help Grapple out of the water. "Uuuh. Whut?" Grimlock pauses, peering down at Shockwave. He hovers in midair for a few moments, tapping his blaster against his free hand. So if Shockwave -IS- taking the thing back to stupids lands...that is BAD! "Me Grimlock stop you septi-con plan!" and with that said, he proceeds to land ON the spaceship, stomping down on the thing- king of the hill! Spaceship. Whatever. Grapple is a bit of a load -- as Grimlock so eloquently put it, he's a fat guy Grapple, as far as robots go -- but Catechism proves up to the challenge, hucking him into the briny depths. Grapple splashes about helplessly. "Ah! I'm sinking! Oh dear!" he says, thrashing around and making it worse. Shockwave turns to watch Grimlock go to town on the spaceship hull. "Wait. No. Stop." Shockwave is a genius. Shockwave hopes this makes up for the time that Grimlock came up to his house on Cybertron and beat him up. Fleet has been told to help the Sharkticon, but he hasn't been told to help the Sharkticon do /what/, and the Sharkticon is currently bobbing in the water (something Fleet /can't/ do). Yes, he's got an idea of what, but he's being intentionally obtuse at the moment because he /really/ doesn't want to be near this thing when it opens. And then Americon has to go and ruin things by making his task clear. But then, Grimlock begins jumping up and down on the hull! Fleet blinks, then backs away, 'skating' backwards with the use of his anti-gravs. "Stop interferring, Dinobot!" he shouts, and fires - not at Grimlock, but at the spot where Grimlock is so enthusiastically 'foiling' the Decepticons. Let whatever's inside get him first. Motormaster smirks slightly as Grimlock drops onto the spaceship like a ton of bricks. "Typical Dinobot thinking. Stomp first. Ask questions later." He glances sideways at Shockwave, waiting for a cue from the leader of this expedition. Taking initiative with a Dinobot usually equals a long medbay stay. The hull of the ship is VERY thickly reinforced, and proves up to the challenge of resisting Grimlock's stomps. But is it armor to protect the ship from the outside... or is it a barrier, to help contain whatever is inside? Fleet is now also firing at (more or less) the same area where Grimlock is stomping. From a larger distance. That helps a little. Catechism is okay with Focus trying to rescue Grapple, for now, because it means that two Autobots are busy accomplishing nothing productive, and it involves nearly no effort on her part. If Focus actually does rescue Grapple, then she might show a bit more interest in shooting the pair of Autobots. Right now, however, she offers, "Well, I could use a bomb, if you'd like, sir." Robotic Bald Eagle turns to Gnaw and yells, "Okay, I think that's all the stickers! Let's crack this mofo open, as the humans say!" He gestures towards the hatch. "Well, eat it or something, already!" Grimlock grunts, and peers up at Fleet as the laser blasts come down at him- at which point he returns fire! *pew pew pew!* He's...not really aiming too much at the seeker, however, on account of the fact he's more concerned about stomping on the hatch. *SMASHYSMASHYSMASH!* Focus shakes his head and comes upon Grapple saying in a calming voice as gentle as ocean waves, "Do not let fear grip you." He stands above the water and bends at the knees grabbing the tubby Grapple and pulls shifting power to his pistons to help lift the heavy autobot from the water. Shockwave takes careful aim and lends a hand (or a lack thereof) with the hatch, via a laser beam. The Sharkticon is told to open it, so open it (or attempt to) he does. He transforms to Shark mode and starts whaling on the hatch with his spiky tail. Grapple only has one hand to pull with -- stupid gun-hand -- but manages to get out of the water all the same with Focus' help. "I /say/, Focus, this has devolved into bedlam already! What should we do?!" Gnaw transforms into his Sharkticon mode. Fleet now has to take a moment to dodge Dinobot lasers! Fortunately, they don't seem particularly well aimed, making it easy for the nimble jet to avoid them. He then transforms and circles around, preparing to use a rocket - if something else doesn't get that thing open first. As thickly reinforced as the hull is, it can't withstand Grimlock's stomps forever. Unicron sure didn't like getting kicked by that guy. And the laser blasts from the Decepticons weaken it further. Spider web cracks appear on the spot Grimlock is stomping, until finally the plating gives way and Grimlock falls... INTO DARKNESS! Several moments later, two large, yellow optics open, glowing like twin suns. They stare down at the little Dinobot. The Sharkticon's tail does a number on the less-well protected hatch. It caves inward with each strike, until finally it is forced open, the hatch mechanism falling onto deck plating inside the ship. Focus shakes his head and helps Grapple to shore, "We do what we can. That is all we can do. Excuse me." He turns and starts running back out towards the ship. Even though there isn't one at this point, Focus is back into the fight. Technically, the yellow and blue tetrajet doesn't have to fire his rocket now. The hull is open, right? However, Fleet reasons that inside the ship is (1) a Dinobot, and (2) something else he probably doesn't want to mess with. He fires as he passes anyway, aiming as close to the hole as he can, and starts to circle back once more. "HEY! THERE GUY IN HERE!" So decrees Grimlock as he peers fearlessly out the two eyes- at which point he pulls his energo-sword, which flares to red life, serving as a makeshift torch- and a very, very good weapon, should the need arise. "HIM UGLY!" Yes, it's Grimlock. The need will most likely arise. Motormaster takes off and hovers a couple dozen meters into the air to get a better viewing angle on the sudden hole that's opened up in the hull. He keeps his distance from the ship itself for the moment though. "Am I the only one who thinks that we might be moving a bit hastily here? We don't even know what this thing is..." he glances back down at Shockwave. Robotic Bald Eagle perches on Gnaw's head, gesturing onward with a wing. "Forward, ho!" The jamming signal in the area disperses. Fleet definitely thinks we're being hastey here. That would be why he's in his 'running away' mode. That the mode happens to also offer his rockets is just a convienent excuse. Shockwave stops emitting the static that had been drowning out radio communications throughout the region. "It sounds as if Grimlock has found something. Stand by at fifty meters distance and observe for the time being," he instructs the other Decepticons via local radio. Robotic Bald Eagle gestures backwards with a wing. "Uh, backward, ho!" "As you command, sir!" Fleet answers Shockwave, more than happy to let the Autobots deal with the whatever. He gains a bit of altitude and starts circling again, the easiest way to 'stand by' for a tetrajet. Commander Shockwave says, "Where did you say you received this data, Americon?" Americon says, "From the Quintesson Traumortis, sir!" Monstereo says, "Humans are wacky. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrxGG9cnXTg" The Sharkball wastes no time pulling back with the others, since he already knows something dangerous is in there. Americon says, "Apparently he's on that Council of Five with Galvatron and was helping him out... right?" <:D Catechism says, "Backstabbing is in the Quintesson way!" Galvatron says, "'Helping.' Ha." Catechism continues to stand on the shore, just watching the chaos unfold. It's about 50 meters away, right? Close enough for hand grenades. The object, once illuminated, appears to be some sort of gigantic robotic whale. It shares many of the design aesthetics with Sharkticons, but with a broader snout. It lacks limbs of any sort, aside from gigantic fins with underwater jet turbines attached to them. Worst of all, however, is its gigantic gaping mouth, filled to the brim with painful looking saws, crushers, and other implements of rending and pain. "GROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!" the beast cries, the interior of the ship serving as an echo chamber for the horrendously loud scream. The scream can easily be heard on the shore as well. Clutch wades back into the water again, heading towards the Quintesson ship since that's what the other Autobots seem to be doing. When he gets a good look at the robo-whale he stares. "I know I haven't been on this planet for long, but that is NOT a natural life-form for this planet!" The giant roar causes Grapple to seize up in panic again. "Oh, dear! Was that Grimlock?!" Then Grapple slowly turns around to see... /it/. "Oh, my," he murmurs, frozen in his spot. Well, most of the ship is intact, but who knows! Maybe Hoist is at just the right angle to see in the hole. "YUP! HIM REAL UGLY!" Grimlock says- and takes a step back from the mechanical beast-thing...and he hmms, surveying the situation- at which point he soars up into the air, punching his way out of the spaceship- and then he pulls his Galaxial Rocket Launcher out, and aims to give the monster a mouthful of high explosive ordinance! Motormaster starts to hover backwards very slowly at the site of robo-Moby Dick. Drawing attention to himself at this point would probably by a non-survival enhancing move. Commander Shockwave says, "There is a very high likelihood that this 'ship' is more of a landing craft/containment unit for one of the Quintessons' typically horrible space monsters. Fortunately thanks to what was admittedly an almost negligable deception, it appears that it has been sprung on the Autobots instead of ourselves." <:D Catechism says, "So we could just... leave, sir?" Rippersnapper says, "Dumb luck for the win!" Sinnertwin says, "Woo!" Rippersnapper says, "mumbli'n, bumbli'n, stumbli'n" Commander Shockwave says, "Yes, it seems that this is mission accomplished." Motormaster ripples out of existence now that the Autobots are definitely pre-occupied. Shade tenses, ready to transform and blast away if the creature attempts to escape from its vessel. Shade has arrived. Motormaster fades from view. Commander Shockwave says, "It would behoove us to reconnoitre the space monster when it emerges for at least long enough to build a file on it, of course." Clutch is chest-deep in water by this time, but he holds up his hands and hops up and down slightly, trying to get Grimlock's attention. "Wait! Hold your fire! We don't even know if this thing is hostile yet!" He eyes the horrific instruments of destruction that form it's 'teeth'. "Er...we don't know officially, I mean. Not 100 percent. Sure, maybe 98 percent...but that's not enough. C'mon, we can't just start shooting at it!" Rippersnapper says, "Interview it for your zine?" Sinnertwin says, "Huh?" Shockwave is just standing on the beach watching the ship rock around due to the thrashing of the monster. He appears to be having a phone conversation over his radio. MEANWHILE Two Quintessons watch the ongoing situation from overhead in a cloaked Quintesson vessel. "Excellent, the Decepticons have taken the bait," says one. "Did they?" says the other. "They let the Autobot wander in there, first! It's going to go after them, now! This is another of your failed schemes, Traumortis!" "No, Delicious," says Traumortis. "That creature cannot go on land for very far. But it will attack anything it encounters in the ocean. Which means..." "Ah, I see..." Delicious says. "Hahaha! Good! Do not worry, my friend," Traumortis says. "Soon Galvatron will be dead, and you will assume HIS place on the Council of Five!" The missiles explode against the whale monster, setting it to roar in anger. It snaps at Grimlock as he tries to leave, but he manages to escape in time. On the other hand, Grimlock's exit damaged the hull even more, and the whale-beast starts to ram its nose against the breach with tremendous force. Chunks of metal fly with each strike as the monster howls for vengeance. Robotic Bald Eagle takes the time to perch on Shockwave's shoulder in the meantime. Fleet has been told to stay near enough to get a visual of the creature, but otherwise withdraw. Music to his radio receptors! He starts climbing to a rather high altitude, moving out of immediate area but staying in visual range. Fleet retreats from the area swiftly, outdistancing all pursuit and parting shots. Fleet takes flight to the Skies above Western Europe. Fleet has left. "Huh." Grimlock says, making a very tactical assessment of the situation. "Stupid thing!" he blasts away at the thing with his double-blaster, but with little avail! "Hnnn. Me Grimlock want know what thing is!" he pauses, and looks over at Shockwave. "You! Tell me Grimlock!" "Begin audio and video recording," Shockwave instructs Americon. "We will want to study the capabilities of the beast at our leisure." Shockwave replies to Grimlock, "A Quintesson ro-beast, clearly." That much should be obvious, really. Gnaw has an inkling of what that beast is, but unfortunately it takes 1,000 inklings to make a clue. All he knows is it's Quintesson in origin. And everybody else could probably figure out easier than he could that it's very dangerous. Robotic Bald Eagle says, "Yes, sir!" as he leans forward and squints really hard at the ship and the raging beast within, putting every fiber of his being into looking at it and listening to it. Shade drops back to the ground next to Shockwave, transforming before landing. Now that the jamming signals are gone, she can re-activate her radio systems without suffering a massive signal overload. Shade's form twists and fluctuates until it reaches the form of a twenty foot mechanical spider. Grapple takes out his gun, which he holds kind of funnily. He waves it around at the noise of the braying sea-space-beast: "N-now, you beastie, don't make me use this, because I w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-won't hesitate!" "GUUOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" cries the whale-con, its head punching through the breach in the ship. It tries to wriggle its way out of the hole but it's still not quite big enough yet. Its piercing howls are heard for miles and miles, and Spanish citizens near the shore stop their business as they stare in horror off into the distance at the unnatural cries of rage. Americon says, "Shockwave, sir, I have a report! The robot-whale thing is, on a scariness scale of 1 to 10, a 10! And it is Spanish, so that's even worse!" "HEY! HEY! YOU STAY IN BOX!" And with that said, Grimlock soars down towards the beast, rearing back with one hand to just *PUNCH!* the beastly thing in the eye! To think, Grimlock being smaller and more manueverable than something? Who would've thunk it! "HEY! You Autobots help me Grimlock smash thingie!" he orders, and rears back to punch the fangy ro-beast again! Commander Shockwave says, "You may proceed to annoy it if you like. That may raise its ire to new heights against the Autobots. There is no great urgency, however. Our mission here is done for the time being." Shockwave nods to himself over some private satisfaction and lifts off, transforming before he rockets away into the sky. Letting the poor unsuspecting Autobots deal with the horrible ro-beast, of course. Shockwave undergoes a simple transformation, safety seals interlocking as he converts into a giant "laser." Shockwave begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Mechanical Spider, Robotic Bald Eagle . Clutch eyes the creature carefully now that it's...uh...easier to look at than before. Er. "Well, it's definately hostile now! And that ship isn't going to hold it for long!" He glances at Grapple, then back up at Grimlock. "Okay...somebody cover us!" He heads in closer, firing a few laser blasts at the whale-con whenever he gets a shot through the hole. He moves very easily in the water, even though at times the waves and splashing causing him to be submerged completely. Shade says, "This channel is not secure. I advise caution in transmissions." <:D Catechism says, "So, this is when I crack out the Spice Girls?" The whale-con stares at Grapple with those two horribly large optics for several moments. It stares... *hungrily.* Then... ...some jerk punches it in the eye. It rears back and SHRIEKS in pain, the ship's hull buckling and peeling upwards like a can of Spam from the sheer strength of the beast. Clutch's laser blasts score numerous hits against the beast--it's not hard to hit--but it's like shooting at a Starship. It will take a LOT of punishment to destroy this thing. Shockwave swooshes away, swoooosh. Americon says, "The Spice Girls? That's some good American music! By all means!" Gnaw, seeing Shockwave wisely evacuating, does the same. Gnaw begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Mechanical Spider, Shockwave, Robotic Bald Eagle . Grimlock grrs! He's wrecked a couple of spaceships in his time...but more often than not, he's been driving them at the time. It's easier that way. And then; "Me Grimlock have IDEA!" he declares- and then pulls his Energo Sword out of subspace- bringing his sword down to *STAB!* the ro-beast between the eyes- Grimlock tucks his blaster away, and then starts a-wrenching at the gash he's made- before he pauses and looks to...Grapple? "HEY! You crane guy strong! Get up here- help me Grimlock smash stuff!" Grapple provides poor cover fire, shooting at the giant beast and its box -- luckily, he can hit the broad side of a barn, and that's pretty much what he's aiming at. "I say! We won't stand for this kind of -- beastly behavior!" Grapple stops firing, touching his gun-hand to his chin. "My word, I just made a wisecrack, didn't I? How splendid!" He then resumes shooting. Mechanical Spider backs up the beach another thirty meters after Shockwave makes his exit, but doesn't follow suit quite yet. This... thing is only attacking the Autobots for the moment. Things could get entertaining if they really tick it off. Catechism ponders what the proper course of action is, here. Shockwave has left, Fleet has left, Gnaw is lurking like a shark, because he is a shark(ticon), and the Insecticon is... Catechism has no idea, really. Perhaps she should... leave, while Grimlock isn't looking? Grimlock is terrifying. She transforms and attempts to sneak away. F-35B Lightning II transforms into robot form. Catechism's feet unfold, her arms unfold out of her body, her nosecone rotates through her body and ends up on her body, and her wings rotate into position at her hips. Catechism retreats from the area swiftly, outdistancing all pursuit and parting shots. More laser blasters pepper the whale-con's hull, scoring it but not penetrating the armor. Grimlock's sword manages to open up a nice gash, but as the Dinobot yells to his comrades to help him out, the whale-con displays a bit of ingenuity as it tries to ram Grimlock up against the steal beams protruding from the hull breach. In this way, it can widen the breach even more, and perhaps skewer its antagonist in the process. And yes, there's a spaceship here, of massive size, floating about in the water. Some sort of horrible robotic whale is trying to break free of it, and is making very good progress in that regard. Clutch shouts, "You want him to get CLOSER? He may be strong, but he's only got one hand! And most of us can't fly!" Despite his words, when Clutch finally reaches the ship and starts climbing right up the side, his rifle hanging from a thin metallic strap that holds it against his back but leaves his hands free to grasp at parts of the hull and pull himself higher. He stops every once in a while to pull the rifle around and unleash a few quick laser blasts, then releases the weapon to let dangle again before continuing his climb. *CRASH!* "OOF!" Grimlock is indeed rammed into! But, being Grimlock, he does not die! No, he just braces himself between whale and hull, and then *PUUUUUSHES* outward, freeing himself- and wrenching off a bit of the hull, in the process! "Rargh! Me Grimlock do stuff me self, then!" he snarls- and then transforms- and then there's a tyrannosaurs stomping down at the ro-beast's OTHER eye! With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out. Robotic Bald Eagle is still here, perched on a tree branch. He glances at the mechanical spider and says, "Man, if only we had some ener-popcorn!" Mechanical Spider bobs slightly, about the only expression that a spider can make. A few red optics swivel to look up at the robotic eagle, but most remain fixated on the spectacle just offshore. "You're a good deal more... enthusiastic than most of Soundwave's creatures aren't you?" Steeltread arrives late as usual. Seems the cons have left the area, but the.....action seems to have shifted. As he lands from getting here on a shuttle......he just.....scratches his chin. "oh dear.....this can't be good." he says softly as his helmet closes on his head and his faceplate slide up. <> He says as, on his right shoulder, an odd looking rifle seems to.....phase into being on a harness. "well.....looks like the shell didn't have long lasting effects after all." Clutch pulls himself onto the upper surface of the ship, although it's rocking back and forth so hard that makes it a little hard for Clutch to keep his balance. He finally settles for kneeling on one knee next to the edge of the hole, and aims his rifle down. To Steeltread he shouts back, "Cover fire, suppressing fire, supporting fire...call it whatever you want, just start firing!!". Clutch follows his own advice, his rifle this time unleashing a stream of pellets that glow with an unnaturally bright green. When they hit, they splatter like paintball pellets, only instead of harmless water-soluble paints they are actually filled with highly corrosive acid! He's careful to avoid getting any near Grimlock, but luckily the robo-whale is so big that Clutch can basically 'aim for the other side of the face' from where the T-Rex is. Robotic Bald Eagle bobs his head towards Shade. He tries to smile but he's in the wrong mode for that, and instead looks very stern. "Yes! It is because I love being an American! Especially here, in..." He looks around the countryside, and hms. "Spain. In Spain. Right, right." "SKREEEEEEE!!!" cries the robo-whale as its other eye gets kicked in. The transparisteel covering cracks under the pressure. And, as its other side begins to steam from the acid pellets, its thrashings become more frantic, and the entire ship begins to pitch back and forth. Water splashes in from the hull breach, gradually flooding it. Steeltread takes a moment to look at the whale and shrugs. "well....if they're shooting at it...it must've attacked them first." he says before taking the handle of his rifle. <> he says before he pulls the trigger of the rifle...and one low powered explosive shell hit where the acid pellets from Clutch hit. "huh....tougher than I thought." he says as he fires another round. "RRAARARGH! ME GRIMLOCK LOUDER! ME GRIMLOCK TOUGHER, TOO! AND STRONGER!" And Grimlock lays into the beast like he tore into Unicron so many years ago- just...on the other end. He ducks his jaw down and wrenches off a chunk of armor plating, throwing it to the side- and then he glances over at the other Autobots. "Hey! You guys shoot in here!" he points at the opening with his stubby dino-arm- and then makes to be an example himself, breathing superheated flame into the crater! Mechanical Spider seems about to respond to Americon when the whale thing causes the ship to start flooding. "Now that's my queue. Once that thing goes under, the distraction is gone... and so am I." She kicks her jets into full gear and rockets upwards, intent on getting out of the area before Grimlock decides to find a new target. Shade begins retreating, leaving herself vulnerable to parting shots from Robotic Bald Eagle . Shade takes flight to the Skies above Western Europe. Shade has left. Clutch looks around in alarm at the rising water level. Pretty soon he'll be back in the water again, and no matter how suited he is for it, he doesn't want to be stuck in with that creature. "Uh, Grimlock...I think we may have a problem here! If this thing gets loose underwater, half of our weapons won't even work against it! And then there's that whole 'can't fly' thing - if we try to chase it down there we'd be sitting ducks!" Even while he reasons with the Dino, Clutch fires a few more lasers at the areas indicated. Shells explode against the whale-creature's hide, blasting chunks off of it. Flame and laser fire pour into the gash made by the Dinobot, straight into the creature's internals. However, this thing is larger than any Autobot shuttle, and is very nearly as big as a cityformer. Even this horrendous punishment is absorbed into the vastness of the creature's body. Could this monstrosity be unstoppable? Is this why the Quintessons once deemed it too dangerous? The whale-con, trying to throw off its assailants, pitches hard to the left, and so does the entire ship. Water floods into the hull breach, and the ship once more begins its steady descent into the ocean, only a small fraction of it still poking out of the surface. Soon it will be completely submerged. Steeltread is firing his rifle at where the steel is weakening under Grimlock's and Clutch's assault. <> She says quietly still unloading shells to widen that hull breach on the whale. "Rargh! Me Grimlock can swim!" And so, the dinocommander transforms back to his robot mode, taking a look at the thing. Brute force hasn't helped (well, maybe not as much as he'd prefer)...so it's time for a more...tactical approach! And so, the dinocommander brings out his Galaxial Rocket Launcher again...and fires- not at the thing's mouth, but instead, at those water-turbines- it's not a threat if it can't move! MEANWHILE, ONBOARD A CLOAKED QUINTESSON VESSEL "They're doing too much damage to the creature, Traumortis!" cries a Quintesson as he watches the Autobots battle the whale-con. "Any more damage, and it will not be able to destroy New Crystal City!" Traumortis sneers as he watches water turbines explode on the side of the robotic monster, and the gash in its body widened by further injuries. "Hnnnh, perhaps you are right. I had been hoping to avoid direct intervention, so as to avoid provoking suspicion from the Decepticons, but that may not be possible. Very well. Decloak the ship! Battlestations!" Above the Autobots, a Quintesson warship appears overhead, and begins to rain down energy weapons fire upon the monster's prison, but taking care not to hit the creature itself. Steeltread winces under his faceplate. "great." His attention shifts from the whale to the ship. <> He says turning his fire from the whale....to the ship......aiming for IT'S engines as well. Clutch has to leap off of the mostly-submered Quintesson ship to avoid the flying (and shooting) Quintesson ship. He manages to turn the fall into a dive, disappearing into the water and then quickly emerging almost by the shore again. Looking up grimly, he raises his rifle to aim at the new threat. "I'm with him...we need to come back with more firepower - more Dinobots maybe!" When Clutch opens fire again, it's at half power, as if all the continuous shooting has depleted his energy reserves. "Rargh!" Grimlock says, "Is Septi-con trick!" a stray blast plows into him, and sends him flying off of the ro-beast to *SPLASH* down into the water nearby! It's a good thing Grimlock can swim, though! It's just that, well...he can't float, however. *GLUB!* The dinocommander dissapears beneath the waves! The Quintesson ship takes the flak from the Autobots, explosions ripping across its hull and by its engines, but as soon as the Autobots have diverted their attention it simply recloaks again. It did its job on the whale-con's prison, too--it's in a shambles. It and the whale-beast sink below the surface, and nothing happens for a while, then the whale-beast launches itself out of the water like a gigantic dolphin, and lands back in the water with a tremendous surge of waves. "GROOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" At last, it is free! But perhaps the Autobots efforts will stall its rampage for a while. The beast feels the need to find some place to recuperate for a while and regain some of its strength. Clutch blinks as the Quintesson ship disappears. He quickly turns his aim back towards the robotic whale-creature, then flinches reflexively as it explodes out of the water. When it dives back inside he straightens up from his firing stance, tilting his rifle up until it's pointed at the sky, the barrel still smoking. "He was serious about knowing how to swim, right...?" Clutch says, gesturing at the water where Grimlock disappeared. Steeltread raises up his rifle and sighs as he looks at it. "I need stronger shells. At least I have access to subspace now.....or at least my longbarrel." he says before looking at Clutch. "My alternate form has a hover mode.......but I can't swim." Message 9/116 (Reports/116) now reads: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MYSTERIOUS, MASSIVE OBJECT RISES OFF OF COAST OF SPAIN, RELEASES MONSTER Could this have been the lost city of Atlantis? A massive object was recently detected just off the coast of Spain by weather satellites. The object had risen up from the water according to eyewitnesses, including a local fisherman who watched it firsthand after being injured by a man who had been hit by a truck. "After that red, white, and blue fellow hit me thanks to that stupid tow truck, I looked out off the shore and saw something huge!" said the fisherman, who wished to remain anonymous. "It was... like a city! And there were all these big robots there. I thought maybe they lived there." This did not turn out to be true, as something monstrous forced its way outside of the ship, gradually ripping it apart. "Then," continued the fisherman, "These other robots, when they saw this whale-thing coming out of the city, they attacked it, and that thing couldn't fight back too well because it wasn't underwater yet. But that big bastard, he struggled and he thrashed and he capsized that whole city." There are also unconfirmed reports that a warship appeared directly overhead for fifteen seconds, fired down upon the "city," then disappeared again. The monster, described as a robotic whale of some sort, apparently managed to free itself afterwards and escaped. Sonar stations and fast-attack submarines then tracked the creature as it traveled north, before losing it at the northern polar ice cap. It is suspected to be hiding under the polar ice cap, but it is unknown how long it will remain there. Until the creature is found and destroyed, governments all over the world are warning merchant vessels to stay off of the seas for their own safety. The emergence of this so-called "city" that housed the creature has also fueled new speculation that the lost city of Atlantis may have been discovered by the Cybertronians. It is unclear why the lost city would apparently serve only to contain such a beast, but some historians and archaelogical experts are already looking into the matter.